Sewing Machines: Metal or Plastic
 

Do they still make all metal sewing machines yet, or are the all plastic now? Which is the best metal sewing machine for quilting and which is the best plastic sewing machine for quilting?

I think that all the machines today will have some plastic in them. I do not have a digital machine (computerized) and the two that are relatively modern are a combo. What is important for me is that motor is in metal housing. I have Singer 5050 DSM and it's European slightly different version. My serger is brand new an I believe it is all plastic. I use it way less than my machine so it was not an issue. If you are talking longarm machines I have never handled one so I have no idea. I do dislike plastic, it seems that's the way the production is going these days. Which one is the best depends on the user and her preferences. Good luck.

My OSMG says sometimes what we think is plastic is nylon and that is very strong. I have taken the side off my dinky 10 year old Brother mechanical looking for plastic and I guess there might be a piece or two, but most of it looks metal to me.

I prefer the old vintage machines. I do have some newer machines that do quite well on FM. I don't know of any company that actually makes anything other than plastic.

I have a Brother PQ1500S, which is really heavy and solid. I think it's a combination of plastic and metal. I *adore* this machine. It's not computerized, and it doesn't have any zigzag stitches. It's just a solid piece of equipment, a workhorse.

If you want all metal, I think you'll have to go to a vintage machine. I have 6 and love them all. My newer Viking 1+ is mostly metal but most machines now have at least some plastic/nylon. I'm with the others here, everyone is different in their needs for a machine. You really need to sew on several to decide what you want.

My Juki TL98QE and Babylock Jane have plastic housings all inside is metal. Both straight stitch only and do everything I want/need them to do. Metal bobbins also. My old/new Vandervoort is all metal, Singer-15 Clone, made in Japan.

I have been looking at different makes of machines on line and have seen several that are all metal inside and plastic only on the outside. If you go to the different company sights you can read up on the ones they have and that could help you find out what is out there.

The more money you pay the more metal you will get, plastic does have its place though because metal is not as easily portable, my plastic cheap brother goes to all my classes and never has a lick of problems, my metal machine weighs about 35lb, 50 with the embroidery unit which is also super heavy. There is no best sewing machine there is just a preference of brand, you will find die hards for all the brands hear. you have to test drive different brands to see what feels right for you, for me I love my brothers/babylocks and wouldn't even stray to another brand, even bernina. There are a lot of janome fans on here as well as bernina and pfaff and then you have the vintage group that wont even touch new machines, and people like me that have no interest in vintage even though I have a few featherweights coming my way one day. Really its just all boils down to preference because all brands have quality machines and some of lower quality in the more affordable range. I would just suggest set a budget, attend a show with lots of dealers and test drive as many machines as possible in and even out of you price range so that you know what features are out there if you want to upgrade one day when you can afford more. Usually sewing expo, craft fairs, county fairs will have your local dealers with specials going on gives you a goo chance to get to know your most local dealers.